Anti-Vax Activists

Gary from Carterton District

The mailbox-dropping Covid conspiracy extremists are at it again.
The latest leaflet is headed “Omicron = Moronic” in bold letters on one side. (This could be a useful anagram for crossword enthusiasts!)
On the other side there's a picture of Dr Ashleigh Bloomfield with a Pinnochio-style long nose and the heading “Do you trust him?”
With characteristically unconnected logic, these anonymous cowards quote some bald statistics derived from a medsafe website. At this point, the truth gives way to distortion. Their targets are threefold, namely reported harm, serious injury, and death from the Comirnaty Pfizer injection. They cite 41,506 reports of harm, 1,651 “SERIOUS” injuries, and 127 deaths after having the vaccine.
HARM
Medsafe collates data for AEFIs (adverse effect following immunisation) into ten categories, the most prevalent five of which account for two thirds of reported adverse effects. In decreasing order of frequency, they comprise: 1. Dizziness, 2. Headache, 3. Lethargy, 4. Injection site pain, and 5. Nausea. Up to 31 December 2021, 88,820 AEFIs were recorded.
I believe there are probably more adverse effects than this every Sunday morning in New Zealand resulting in dizziness, headache, lethargy and/or nausea after Saturday night on the booze. They just aren't recorded or of any public interest because cause and effect are so well known!
INJURIES
The leaflet claims there have been 1651 serious 'injuries'. Medsafe actually reports that there have been 2,015 “serious harm” reports up to 31 December 2021 out of a total of 45,984 AEFI reports.
DEATHS
The leaflet states that there have been “127 deaths of Kiwis from the Comirnaty Pfizer injection”. The actual Medsafe source of this data states: “Up to and including 31 December 2021, a total of 133 deaths were reported to CARM (Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring) after the administration of the Comirnaty vaccine. Following medical assessments by CARM and Medsafe it has been determined that:
54 of these deaths are unlikely related to the COVID-19 vaccine,
58 deaths could not be assessed due to insufficient information,
19 cases are still under investigation,
2 deaths were likely due to vaccine induced myocarditis (awaiting Coroner’s determination)”. That's just TWO DEATHS after having the vaccination, (not from the covid virus itself), in a population of over 5 million.
Saying that 127 deaths (officially 133) have been CAUSED by the vaccine is a gross distortion of the truth.
Fortunately, an overwhelming majority of Kiwis DO trust Dr Bloomfield and the underlying science, and do NOT trust the conspiracy extremists.